San DiegoSpider silk is tougher than Kevlar and stronger than steel.
Lab-made silk has fallen short because researchers did not know how spiders spin it.
Gregory Holland’s team at San Diego State University found proteins in liquid dope reorganise into semiliquid condensates before solidifying.
Researchers hope condensate chemistry will let them re-create silk for seat belts, helmets and brain-cell scaffolds.
How each outlet framed it
- Quanta Magazine
- explains the silk-dope condensate mechanism as a practical guide to spinning, with the spider as the model for lab fiber
Sources: Quanta Magazine